Elijah came up to me this morning, held my face in his hands, gave me big kisses, counting as he went “one, two, fweeeeee, four, five. . .” “okay, Elijah, that’s enough, only Daddy can kiss Mommy that many times at once. . .” I say, (we’ve all been sick, so I’m trying to minimize the germs too!) to which he responds, “Momma, I give you ONE more!!”

What Momma can resist the Caskey way of getting a cold? But hey, I’ll take the Caskey way any day. . . . . throw caution to the wind and spread some germs, right?!?!

Here’s our latest family visitor, my beautiful sister Risa! For those of you who never met my mom, she’s probably my mom’s closest likeness. . . so cool to see!

One of the skills we have encouraged in our children is the use of their imaginations. Recently I have seen both children have imaginative play that is independent of anything I, or someone else, suggested.

Merry has been using any purse-like object as a purse, putting things in and carrying them around, saying “bye-bye.” She is also doing things with her babies like carrying them around for extended periods of time wrapped in a blanket. Her use of props is different than what Elijah did at this age.

Elijah yesterday at the playground came up to Risa, Merry and me and asked us “you want to pet my dinosaur,” holding up a long stick that did sort of look like a dinosaur. “He really sweet,” he said, “he not bite.” Eventually he named his pet stick dinosaur (Elijah of course!) and rode on his back home (like a hobby horse.) I don’t know where Elijah the stick dinosaur ended up when we got home. Perhaps we’ll meet up with him again when we go outside.

These pics were taken by Tammy Shutter, a coworker of Jeremy’s and good friend of our family at a recent park visit and ice cream treat stop.

Psalm One is one of my favorite Psalms and is a sort of Proverbs 31 for a husband and dad. Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord, and meditates on it day and night.

My children are blessed to have a godly daddy, and I am blessed to be their mother along side him. We are also both blessed to have fathers who desired for, and taught us to serve the Lord and love His Body, the church.

It is beautiful to see the evidences of Jeremy’s godly life in our children already. His steady leadership of our family in consistent fellowship in godly churches has led our children to expect to be in church, to look forward to fellowship with their friends at church already, and to develop a taste for a Christ-centered worship and teaching. Elijah’s mandolin yesterday was “played” for “church” with Merry as the only member attending in our living room. I asked Elijah who was going to preach after the music was done, and he said, “me!” Attention spans didn’t allow them to get that far into the imaginary church service, but I can’t wait until their attention spans do allow for it!

Some other things the children do that reflect their Daddy: They hold hands across their carseats in the back when we are driving somewhere, just like Jeremy does with me in the front seat. Elijah sings and prays with Merry and expects to read his Bible every day, and now, more than what is the usual amount, “read that too, Mamma.”

The especially amazing thing about a godly father is that not only is he blessed, as Psalm one says, but so is his family, his wife, and others who come in contact with him! We love you Jeremy, and are blessed by you even in your physical absence! Come home safely and soon!

Mike Kaplan, my old boss in Louisiana, and a regular reader of this blog, hounded me to send him a picture of me in my “full battle rattle” (all the gear we wear) to adorn his “troop wall.”I join the ranks of some decorated individuals, to include a Bronze Star recipient and who knows what else.The funny thing is, I have been stationed with all but one of the persons on the wall, at one time or another.Mike says the troop wall is a good place to be.

I’m not sure if I’ve told Mike this or not (still feels uncomfortable nearly 3 years later calling him by his first name instead of Master Sgt. Kaplan), but I attribute a great deal of my success in winning Military Graphic Artist of the Year 2004 to his leadership and guidance and insistence that I submit.He even attended the ceremony with me in D.C.Thank you, Mike, you rock!

Elijah woke up when he turned three and said “I want to get my birthday now!” He wanted Cheerioes and milk for breakfast, peanut butter sandwiches and cheese sandwiches for lunch. Dinner was crab cakes and a shrimp pasta with broccoli. This very special birthday, started out with a video of Daddy singing happy birthday to him in Iraq (we had to watch it exactly 12 times!) Then we had a video conference with Daddy to open his big wheel bike and mandolin. We then got to go to the sprinkler park with his friend Charlie and his sister Caroline and Aunt Beth. The day ended with chalk drawing on the sidewalk with Aunt Beth and a visit from Uncle Josh and Aunt Roseann with cousin Lumina. Lots of additional gifts throughout the day – we will post pictures and video as soon as we get a free moment to breathe!